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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Celebrations of the Obama inauguration
Recognitions and celebrations of the inauguration of U.S. President
Barack Hussein Obama were recorded throughout the world on January 20, 2009. "Residents
of the coastal Colombian city Turbaco, comprised mostly of people from Afro-Colombian descent, rang in the inauguration of
American President Barack Obama Tuesday with fireworks, street theater and Caribbean themed music," Bryon Wells writes in the Colombia Reports' article "Turbaco celebrates Obama inauguration." "The celebration was an affirmation for the residents of Turbaco, who overwhelmingly
voted in November through mock elections to show solidarity with Obama..." Reports
from various journalists in the article "Obama Inauguration Scenes From Around The World" demonstrate the feelings of hope and pride many have demonstrated because of Obama's election.
"Blacks
face so much discrimination here," the journalist Bradley Brooks quotes Alex Andrade, an unemployed Black Brazilian as
stating. "Now with a Black man in charge of such an important country, it might help decrease the racism in Brazil,"
the 24-year-old said. "I never thought I'd see a Black man with so much power. It is giving hope to all the people
who live here."
While Vivian Sequera notes that Afro-Colombian sugarcane cutters in Puerto Tejada were given
Tuesday off and "watched Barack Obama's inauguration on a giant TV screen and celebrated with dancing and singing.
" 'The people here see themselves represented in Obama,' Mayor Elver Montano said. 'President Barack
Obama could us help a lot, promote dialogue, give resources and money to help improve people's livelihood.' "
11:49 pm est
Will Obama support Durban Review?
By Karen Juanita Carrillo
With the much-anticipated exit of President Geor ge W. Bush and the even greater awaited entrance of President-elect Barack Obama to
the White House this month, millions are expecting to see federal policy changes that will spur the United States’ economy.
But beyond the changes needed in-country, many people are expecting the Obama administration to help reposition U.S.
foreign policy – in particular, the way it addresses developing nations. And one upcoming event that
Obama’s administration could make a significant appearance at is the Durban Review Conference (DRC/ www.un.org/durbanreview2009/), the follow-up to the United Nation’s World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR; www.un.org/WCAR), due to take place in Geneva, Switzerland April 20-24, 2009. read more
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Visit www.afropresencia.com to find listings and links to areas where you can find out
about upcoming events, as well as links to articles, photos and videos on Life in the Black Americas.
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The Sound of My Footsteps: Narratives of Migratory Jamaican immigrants
Interviews with over 30 Jamaican immigrants on their
pre-migratory perceptions of New York and England Click
here to view and purchase the book.
The Afro-Latin@ Reader:
History and Culture in the United States
 The Afro-Latin@ Reader focuses attention on a large, vibrant, yet oddly invisible community
in the United States: people of African descent from Latin America and the Caribbean. The presence of Afro-Latin@s
in the United States (and throughout the Americas) belies the notion that Blacks and Latin@s are two distinct categories
or cultures. Afro-Latin@s are uniquely situated to bridge the widening social divide between Latin@s and African
Americans. At the same time, their experiences reveal pervasive racism among Latin@s and ethnocentrism among African
Americans. Offering insight into Afro-Latin@ life and new ways to understand culture, ethnicity, nation, identity,
and antiracist politics, The Afro-Latin@ Reader presents a kaleidoscopic view of Black Latin@s in the United
States. It addresses history, music, gender, class, and media representations in more than sixty selections, including
scholarly essays, memoirs, newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, short stories, and interviews. Click here to view and purchase the book.
African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events by Karen Juanita Carrillo The proof
of any group's importance to history is in the detail, a fact made plain by this informative book's day-by-day documentation
of the impact of African Americans on life in the United States. One of the easiest ways to grasp any aspect of history
is to look at it as a continuum. African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events provides just
such an opportunity. Click here to view and purchase the book.
The
View from Chocó: The Afro-Colombian past, their lives in the present, and their hopes for the future by Karen Juanita Carrillo The View from Chocó: The Afro-Colombian past, their lives in the
present, and their hopes for the future is an introduction to the lives of Blacks in Colombia. Afro-Colombians
live in a resource-rich yet remote region of Colombia. They only recently won recognition as one of that nation's
distinct ethnic groups. But Colombia's on-going civil war has led many Afro-Colombians to reach even farther than
their nation's borders for recognition: many have made their way to the United States as refugees and as political
activists working for peace in their homeland. The View from Chocó introduces the lives and struggles of a too-long neglected community of Colombian Blacks. Click here to view and purchase the book.
Raise Your Brown Black Fist is a collection of essays
written by Kevin Alberto Sabio during his time as a Contributing Writer  for an online magazine.
The book combines his two article series, "Black
vs Brown" and "Black Thoughts: A Political Ideological Perspective
for Afrolatinos" into one volume, plus three other miscellaneous entries. The book
is currently available through his publisher, AuthorHouse. Click
the logo above to view and purchase the book.
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